#75: Michael McDonald with Marcus Miller

In this interview from Blue Note at Sea '23, noted record producer Don Was spoke with the great percussionist and bandleader Sheila E.  Sheila talked with Don about her unique musical relationship with her father Pete Escovedo and her brothers.  She shared stories of working with legendary artists such as Ringo Starr, Marvin Gaye, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson and Prince.  She also explained the mission for her Elevate Oakland community organization.  And she told us about her practice regimen.

This episode features a very special interview with jazz icon Wynton Marsalis by his old friend Christian McBride from The Jazz Cruise earlier this year.  The two have a long history going back to 1984 when Christian was a 14-year-old bassist in Philadelphia and Wynton took him under his wing. He even assured Christian’s mother that we would watch over Christian when he moved to NYC a few years later.  Given their relationship and how they both became mentors to so many musicians across multiple generations, it should come as no surprise that the theme of their conversation here was about mentorship and inspiration. Wynton discussed his unique relationship with the late jazz writer and provocateur Stanley Crouch and with Betty Carter, as well as his connection to so many greats, not only in jazz, but in Black American culture, like Ralph Ellison, August Wilson and Albert Murray.

Christian also gave Wynton a three-song Blindfold Test, featuring trumpeters.  You can guess how that went. The two also played a couple of duets.  But throughout their talk, it’s the stories about their elders that resonated.

This episode features an interview with keyboardist/trombonist/bandleader Brian Culbertson by Talaya from The Smooth Jazz Cruise in 2023.  Brian talks about recording his first album in his apartment when he was in college at DePaul in Chicago. He also explained how he came to develop his streaming show The Hang and how he recorded numerous albums during the pandemic.  Along the way, Brian shares his creative process for writing, arranging and producing. 

In this conversation recorded during Blue Note at Sea '23, saxophonist David Sanborn talks with his old friend and colleague Marcus Miller about his storied life and career in music. 

In this conversation from Blue Note at Sea '23, host Don Was interviews Christian McBride about his practice regimen for the bass, his early years growing up in Philadelphia, his love of James Brown and how he handles his many roles as a musician, composer, bandleader, radio host and educator.  

This episode recorded on The Smooth Jazz Cruise features an interview with saxophonist Candy Dulfer by one of our hosts Talaya. Candy talked about her very musical upbringing in the Netherlands with her father Hans, a noted jazz saxophonist, as well as her own unique journey, crossing paths and collaborating with Dave Stewart, Prince and Van Morrison, and establishing herself as a solo artist.

This episode features a true 1:1 conversation between two old friends, comedian Alonzo Bodden and bassist/bandleader/composer Marcus Miller.  Recorded on Blue Note at Sea '23, the two talked about music and comedy and everything in between.

In this conversation recorded during The Jazz Cruise '23, Shelly Berg interviewed vocal jazz sensation Samara Joy for his "Generation Next" show on SiriusXM's Real Jazz channel.

This week’s episode of the Jazz Cruises Conversations podcast features a very special interview by Marcus Miller with Michael McDonald, recorded on The Smooth Jazz Cruise earlier this year.

Marcus talked with Michael about his long and storied career, which started out in St. Louis, playing and singing in local cover bands. The rest is history, which you’ll hear about in this engaging and entertaining talk. How about this little fact? Michael’s local young band backed Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry back in the day. And he explains the origin of the band name The Doobie Brothers. And Michael tells how he came to duet famously with Patti LaBelle on their smash hit “On My Own.”  And now they’re doing a cruise together, the McDonald Labelle Cruise with us April 10-13 to Nassau in the Bahamas.

In this one-on-one conversation from Blue Note at Sea earlier this year, Christian McBride interviewed Chris Botti for an episode of his Sirius XM radio show “The Lowdown: Conversations with Christian.” Chris talked about the rewards and challenges of his long-running residency at the Blue Note in New York City.  The two also talked about Chris’ beginnings in Portland, Oregon, as well as the impact of the music program at the University of Indiana.  Chris explained why the trumpet is such a difficult instrument to master. He talked about the impact of working with Paul Simon and Sting.  And he even told a Frank Sinatra story. Finally, Christian gave Chris a little Blindfold Test with three trumpeters.